Audio and/or video entertainment media content may be provided to viewers in a number of ways. For example, entertainment content may be provided via a subscription purchase, a pay-per-view purchase, a pay-for-license model (for example, via the purchase of a pre-recorded digital video disk), or an advertisement-supported model in which advertisements are supplied in-band (i.e. interspersed throughout an entertainment content item). Such models are well-understood and feel comfortable to users, content providers, and advertisers.
As a result of this familiarity, online media purchase and access have been provided through the same models. At the same time, however, computer-driven online media playback has evolved to be much more flexible than such models may allow. For example, online media playback may provide instant access to a large body of content, the ability to pause, resume, and seek/skip through content on demand, and the ability to access the content from any location that provides a network connection.
In contrast, the online provision of advertisement-supported content may not permit the full utilization of such capabilities. For example, one method of providing advertisement-supported content online involves interspersing advertisements throughout the entertainment content item being watched. In such a model, users may be prohibited from skipping or fast-forwarding through the advertisements. This is in contrast to the main body of the media content, in which users may be allowed to take advantage of the playback capabilities offered by online media. Such a model may present significant technical challenges in implementing the enforcement of mandatory advertisement content playback while permitting more flexible entertainment content playback. Further, the playback experience may appear disjointed to a user.
The use of a pay-for-license model for providing content online may allow a user to more fully utilize the capabilities of providing entertainment content online. For example, one method of providing pay-for-license content online may comprise having a user pay for an entertainment content item up front, and then permitting the user to watch the item freely in its entirety. However, because such a model involves the user paying for the content out-of-pocket, the model may have less appeal to many users.